Always
by lunastars
Summary: Lately Dani can only associate Halloween with pain until on the 10th anniversary of that night she gets the one thing she never thought she would - One-shot. Dani/Binx


**A/N: **_I'm taking a little break from posting fanfiction but seen as it is around Halloween I figured I needed to get this one up now. :)_

_Thackery Binx stole my heart and to be honest, he can keep it if he wants._

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><p>Dani slammed her bedroom door shut behind her and dropped down onto her bed. She kicked her shoes off before swinging her legs around and onto the bed. She curled her body up and tucked a pillow under her head, wrapping her arms around it. A couple of short, but hard knocks came. She closed her eyes and tried her best to ignore them.<p>

"Come on, Dani."

She peeked using one eye to see that Max had opened her door and stepped inside. She pulled the pillow out from underneath herself and threw it at him. He managed to catch it and he gave her a questioning look. She groaned before rolling away to face the opposite wall.

"What are you even doing here?"

"It's Halloween," Max said in a surprised tone.

"I don't care."

"You love Halloween!"

He sounded shocked at her words and she couldn't blame him. She looked over her shoulder at him. "I haven't celebrated Halloween in the last three years."

"I heard, I thought it was some kind of lie," he admitted. "I know I couldn't make it down and neither could Alison but I thought you would still do _something_."

"I grew tired of doing stuff." She gave a half-hearted shrug. "I mean, I'm eighteen now. It's normal to not want to dress up and go out."

"Ten years, huh?" Max said, realising now what was really bothering her. He carefully made his way over and sat on the bed.

"It's not what you think," she argued. "I just grew out of all this in the last couple of years."

"Well you know where I'll be if you want to join me."

She closed her eyes as Max left the room. He hadn't been able to make it down in the past couple of years for Halloween but every other time he had come they always went to the same place. It had become a tradition for them now. Dani didn't want to go. She never wanted to even think about Halloween. It hurt too much. She had dealt with it fine for the first four or five years but then it just became too much. She wasn't a kid anymore. She was just starting to grow up at that point and as the years passed she found it harder to just accept what had happened.

She laid there for a good hour before she groaned angrily. Both she and Max knew that she would cave. Getting up off of the bed she glanced around the room. She snatched up the witch's hat that lay on her desk. Her parents had left it there before they went away for the weekend. The thought of dressing as a witch wasn't exactly a positive one but she really didn't want to have to make much of an effort. So she put it on and grabbed a cloak she had worn a few years back. She made an effort to put a plain dress on as well as some patterned tights and decent shoes. She then tied the cape around her neck. It wasn't as long as it had once been but it would do, at least she matched.

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><p>When Dani arrived she almost left again. She stared at the Sanderson house, all the good and bad memories rushed back to her. She tried to shake them loose as she gripped at the iron gate. Max came over from where he had been waiting and leaned against the gate beside her. Together they watched the house. There had been no movement in the last ten years but they still liked to check. The sisters were really gone, they knew that, but it still helped them to sleep at night if they knew that they hadn't come back.<p>

"Knew you couldn't stay away," Max teased.

"Jerk," Dani muttered in response.

"I know it hurts," he said, looking forward as he spoke so it didn't seem so intense. "But it's been ten years, Dani."

"I'm fine," she argued. "I just don't see the fun in dressing up anymore or wandering around asking strangers for candy."

He looked over at her. She could probably guess what he was thinking. They all missed him but Dani missed him the most. There had been that connection. She felt angry and nothing but pain at the thought of him being out there _somewhere_. She hated the idea of him being gone but still somewhere. It made her chest ache and her entire body shake.

"I'm going to go," she said quietly. "There's some things I need to do."

"Dani…"

"You said Alison might come down," she said over her shoulder as she walked way. "You should call her and see if she is."

Before Max could stop her she started walking quicker. She kept going, doing everything she could not to think as she moved. The ache inside of her was only getting worse. More than anything she just wanted to sleep and not wake up until Halloween was over with. It would still hurt after that but it would be less so, it would be manageable.

She had every intention of going home until she passed the cemetery. The gates were still unlocked. For a little while she contemplated going in and in the end she pushed the gate open. The second she stepped inside she felt different, not better, just different. She kept on walking, not giving herself the chance to turn and run away.

As she moved she passed Billy's grave. She paused momentarily and took a moment to think about him and thank him for his involvement that night. She knew what she was looking for. Deep down she knew. She circled back on herself a little and found the exact right spot. She could see the gates where he had disappeared as she stood in the spot where she had been exactly ten years ago.

"A witch, really?"

Dani screamed as she spun around to the sound of _his_ voice. "Binx?" she gasped.

"The one and only."

She couldn't help but chuckle softly as he bowed to her. He looked exactly the same as he did when he told her he would always be with her. It made sense really that he hadn't aged but one thing was different, he was solid.

Dani couldn't believe it. There was no way it was true so to test the theory she started running without giving him any warning. He had just straightened up when he caught sight of her running towards him. She was sure that she would move right through him. She would go face first into the dirt but at least she would know.

Only she didn't go through him. She crashed straight into him. He caught her but the two of them fell back into the dirt. She gasped as she scrambled to sit up. He was there. Solid. She patted his chest and his arms and his face with her hands.

"Easy," he laughed as he grabbed her wrists to stop her. "I'm real."

"How?" she questioned, trying not to let her emotions erupt.

"Does it matter?"

She nodded her head. "Yes. How are you here?"

"You've seen what is out there, is it not enough to know that it is possible?"

He had let go of her wrists now. She curled them into fists against his chest as she focused on them. She was beginning to cry, she could feel it. "How long for?"

This time he looked down. She could see the genuine upset on his face. "I don't know," he admitted.

His voice was so small, so unsure. It was then that Dani realised that he was in pain too, that maybe he had been this entire time. She knew that even if he could stay forever he probably wouldn't. There was Emily to think about but for that one night at least Dani wanted to be selfish and keep him for herself.

She smoothed her hands out against his chest and when he looked up at her she leaned down and pressed her lips gently against his. She held still, their lips barely an inch apart now. His eyes had drifted shut and he looked so peaceful that she began to fear he would disappear there and then. Instead one of his hands laid against one of hers on his chest and the other came up to cup the back of her head.

"Always," he murmured.

"Always," she agreed before she pressed her lips firmly against his, kissing him like her life depended on it.

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><p><em>R&amp;R<em>


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